An optical imaging system (e.g., a microscope or optical imaging device) can use wavelengths of light to create an image of a sample. For example, the optical imaging system can utilize visible, ultraviolet, or infrared light to perform imaging of the sample. As a non-limiting example, optical imaging systems can be used to obtain detailed images of tissues, cells and/or molecules of a human subject. These detailed images can be used by scientists for research and/or medical practitioners for disease diagnosis and treatment.
Optical imaging and patterning can be limited by a far-field diffraction limit. The far-field diffraction limit can limit imaging patterns or creating patterns that are spaced by a distance closer than approximately λ/2, where λ, is a wavelength of an illumination. In far-field diffraction, a diffraction pattern can be viewed at a long distance from the diffracting object, or the diffraction pattern can be viewed at the focal plane of an imaging lens.